It is important to celebrate scientists because we live in a world increasingly dependent on science, yet it is one that is hardly excited about it. We are more prone to ascribe every world event to a global post-Trump victory apocalypse, than to applaud an obscure scientist who has made a phenomenal discovery
The most important aspect of the Nobel prize is that it brings achievement to those of us who do not even have direct contact with the subject of the prize. For many of us, the winners are a re-enforcement of humanity’s progress; that despite the noise outside, the windows of our minds are still open to the possibility of finding that which does not yet exist; that our species is curious and brave to explore, discover, create.
Often I have wondered if the inspiration from a prize as remarkable as the Nobel is greater for the audience or for the winner. Indeed, it feels wonderful to win. Who would not like his hard work and vision to be recognised and celebratedIJ Yet, an exceptional artist is rewarded by the toil in his work itself and he basks in the glow of his creation. An extraordinary scientist may be less emotionally invested in awards than in the path that leads him to his discovery.
I am on the jury of at least two prestigious prizes — none of which hold a candle to the Nobel. One is the Global Teacher Prize, an annual million dollar prize that is awarded to yes... the world’s best teacher. The second prize that I judge is The Circular Economy awards granted to individuals and organisations that drive the most innovative ways to recycle, reuse, or share resources, at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos every year.
I enjoy the little part I play in these initiatives because besides judging a winner, we — the jury members — are also engaged in leveraging our own social and professional networks to cheerlead the award’s social cause. The amount or stature of the award often determines the scale of the initiative’s outreach. The winner, we hope, would be an inspiration to the audience. And so it is important that the details of the winner’s work are made known to the audience, and much is said of the winner’s extraordinary traits, ability to overcome hardships, and success in achieving the unthinkable, and so on. We live in an era of more ideologues than intellectuals and of role models who are celebrities more than cerebrals.
Particularly interesting is the case of scientists. Indeed about three years ago, Yuri Milner, a scientist turned businessman, began to give away USD 3 million prizes — three times that of the Nobel prize cheque — to scientists for their discoveries. His aim was to make celebrities out of scientists so that their scientific breakthroughs could inspire others.
Of all the causes in the world, I find it exceptionally important that we celebrate scientists. I feel that we have chained ourselves to the daily chaos of politics, religion, careers — all of which are contraptions of our own making, whereas science continues to try breaking our shackles of blind acceptance of what is given to us. It persuades us to question. It tells us that everything is theoretically impossible until it is proven and done. This can be the science of anything — the science of literature, of mathematics, or of physics. Even religion without science is obtuse. Science is a way of thinking. It is for all of us.
Celebrating scientists is necessary also because we live in a world increasingly dependent on science, yet it is one that is hardly excited about it. The fads come and go — these days we are more prone to passionately ascribe every world event to a global post-Trump victory apocalypse, than to, let’s say, cry ourselves hoarse in zealous applause for an obscure scientist making a phenomenal discovery.
let us take the example of discovering life-support for a city. In so many ways, Delhi has aged well. Its fortresses run along its roads, tombs of its emperors are on traffic lights, and the city’s museums guard the remains of the world’s oldest civilisations. In central Delhi, titles of lost dynasties are scattered as street names, and peacocks dance in the backyard of homes. Now if only we could get this beautiful old dusty city to breathe some more. To do precisely so, these days, Moshe Alamaro is testing a breakthrough technology that he says would reduce pollution in Delhi.
Moshe is a scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He wants to take a jet engine, put it next to one of India’s coalpower plants, and point its exhaust nozzle at the sky. His hope is that the jet’s exhaust will disrupt ‘inversion’ — a meteorological phenomenon that exacerbates the humongous air pollution in Delhi in which a layer of warm air settles over cooler air and its pollutants hence trapping it. Moshe thinks that the rising stream of exhaust in the jet will carry off the tiny particles of matter that the Delhi smog is composed of, and will disperse them in the wider atmosphere.
Over the next eight months or so, Moshe is going to test this hypothesis. He will ascertain whether a jet engine could disrupt the inversion layer and allow the pollution to escape the city. His experiment offers the possibility of uplifting the lives of at least 17 million people and many more who are as yet unborn. He is single-mindedly focused on achieving the task at hand.
Smothered by news on demonetisation these days, many of us have not heard of Moshe’s experiment — let alone be animated about it. There are also mixed views to the experiment as some experts doubt that Moshe’s jets will be able to push through Delhi’s inversion layer, especially during daylight hours when the distance between warm and cool air is about a kilometre.
As I prepared to go on the jury call for judging the winner of the SME category of The Circular Award this week, I am inspired by the wonderful range of solutions offered by the nominees of this award towards improving the state of the world we live in. It must have taken each one of them tremendous vision and endurance to create these new models of doing business, I think. Who am I to judgeIJ They were all seeds of change.
This makes me excited also at the slightest prospect of Moshe’s success. If Moshe wins in his endeavour, it would improve Delhi, but perhaps it could also gain a platform to persuade more people to think scientifically of incremental solutions to Delhi’s pollution problem rather than giving up to the destiny of living in an old, coughing city.
It is unlikely that Moshe’s work is motivated by the Nobel, Yuri Milner’s award, or any prize other than the success of his breakthrough technology. But this exactly is the spirit that is really worth celebrating, and indeed propagating.
The writer is Chief Sustainability Officer for the group of companies, Jindal Steel and Power ltd. She is a Global leadership Alumna of the World Economic Forum. miniya.chatterji@jindalsteel.com